FO: Widdershins...

The fastest socks I ever knitted, and my first FO of the year!



Pattern: Widdershins by Brooke Chenoweth Creel (Knitty.com Summer '06)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in "denim/pink" (#P400)
Needles: US1/2.25mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 1.5 weeks
Mods: Adjusted for smaller row gauge, increased up to 60 sts on leg.

Notes:

I found the toe-up with heel flap construction way more fascinating than is probably healthy. =P For the first sock I was simply figuring out the pattern, for the second I thought about how I could convert other sock patterns to be worked like this. I see much more sock knitting in the future now that I've found a technique I really enjoy.



My overall gauge was smaller than what was stated in the pattern. It didn't matter so much on the foot--it ended up being a perfect fit. I just had to calculate how long the gusset and heel came out to with my row gauge and knit the foot length accordingly. However, I was afraid it might be too narrow once I got to the calf, so I gradually increased up to 60 stitches up the leg. My mom loves the socks, and they fit perfectly!

As for my first impressions of the Koigu...Well, I'm personally not crazy about variegated yarn. I think I've only used it for myself once although I've used self-striping sock yarn for gift socks. Even so, they did a really good job with dying the yarn. I've also read that the base yarn for Koigu is from Louet, so I guess if I want some nice sock yarn in the future I could probably get it directly from them in solid colors.

Now, back to my reknit project...

Reknit: Ribbon Tie Cardigan...

Which I'm still not happy with.



This was the first sweater I knit when I was still twisting my purl stitches. I got quite a bit of wear out of it and figured I may as well knit it again the right way. It looks much better than before (and the yarn was still okay despite being unraveled and re-used). The only problem is that in the year since I last wore it (I decided not to take much with me to school in England), my personal style and taste aged a bit as I got closer to going out in the real world and working in professional office settings.

Or as my mother puts it, I'm getting old. =P This cardi just isn't for me anymore.

This could pass as a child's cardigan, though. I think I'll include it with this year's contribution to the Dulaan project.

As for my current RIP, well, let's just say all that 2x2 ribbing isn't a lot of fun. Just to keep me from getting too bored I started a new, but small, project.



This is sock 1/2 of Widdershins in Koigu KPPPM for my mom. We went to a yarn shop a few towns over where I saw Koigu in person for the first time. I picked out a couple skeins of a deep purple for myself to try and told my mom if there was anything she wanted, she could pick out the yarn. She decided to go for socks in this pink/purple/blue colorway.

Re-knit 2007...

Now that the holidays have officially ended with a 43-42 win by BSU in the Fiesta Bowl (go Broncos!!!), I can get back to the knitting.

I'm normally not one for New Year's resolutions, but this is about as close to one as I'll get. After re-knitting the Sirdar pullover for my mom, I decided to start the new year by re-visiting a couple older knits that either have some pretty noticeable mistakes (mostly from when I first picked up knitting seriously), I'm not completely happy with, or I never use and could use the yarn for something else. I'll still be going through my slow destash process but that shouldn't be too difficult considering the vast majority of my stash is leftovers. I've bought yarn without a project in mind on only two occasions and have only been gifted yarn twice.

The current re-knit in progress, which I will call "RIP" from here on, is my first garment, the Ribbon Tie Cardigan from the Spring/Summer 2005 issue of Knit.1. The reason for this is because when I picked up the needles again after years of no knitting, I was purling through the back loop causing my stitches to twist. This was how I thought my grandmother taught me back when I was wee. Anyway, we can't have a cardi (that's still in use) with wonky, twisted stitches, can we? So I ripped it out a couple days ago and started working on the back. It looks much better so far. The tension's much more even, as well.

My next re-knit will be a relatively newer one: the Ballet Wrap from Interweave Spring 2005). The sash is just too long for my taste so I'm planning on making it a few inches shorter on each end. Good thing I saved my notes for this pattern.

There's also a Lopi pullover that I knit two summers ago but never mentioned. This is because the neck ended up too tight and I could barely put it on. This was also my first attempt at stranded knitting and grafting, the latter of which I failed miserably. I'll be ripping out the entire yoke (but not the body) and re-knitting the colorwork. Plus, I now know how to do the sewn bind-off so no more tight collar!

These are my main re-knit projects, which will take priority for now. Afterwards, I'll get back to knitting new projects and re-visit the accessories (scarves with twisted stitches and badly woven ends, fingerless mitts, etc.) on the side.

Speaking of new projects, it turns out I noted the gauge of my swatch for the split neck raglan incorrectly. Consequently, I had to rip out the entire body, which had me depressed for a while (so much knitting wasted!). Now the Felted Tweed has been wound into an uber ball (I used felted join method and couldn't find where each ball met) waiting for me to rebuild my motivation.

BTW, I've gone through four toilet paper tubes in six months, not to mention the time it takes to wind yarn by hand. Think it's time I invest in a ball winder? Then again knitters of yore had no such gadgets and still did just fine.